U.S. wholesale inventories post strongest gain since March

U.S. wholesale inventories rose 1.3% month over month in July to $958.9 billion, matching the advance estimate and marking the strongest increase since March. The gain followed a revised 0.4% increase in June and lifted inventories 5.7% from a year earlier, extending a multimonth rebuilding trend after businesses had reduced stockpiles for five consecutive quarters. Nondurable-goods inventories increased 1.6%, led by a 6.5% surge in petroleum stocks, while durable-goods inventories rose 1.1%. Wholesale sales rebounded 0.8% in July to $801.3 billion, and the inventory-to-sales ratio was about 1.2 months, suggesting the buildup could support third-quarter economic growth after inventories reduced second-quarter GDP growth.